In The Darkest Depths
by drakeguard
Summary: With a worried Garrett, Mr. Lee snapping at everyone, and Paine still on the loose, what is the team to do? Also, why are black suits frequenting Lee Industries? PreSeason 2, Paine is still out, story is as always, better then summary.


I finally finished this chapter! Yay! So yeah, not my first fic, but my first ATOM one, kind of Lee centered (or will be in later chapters). I should hopefully have an update soon (this things been sitting on my computer for a while and I just got a new one so it should go a lot quicker now), plus I'm a self editer, so it will take me a bit longer.

As for the chapter itself, it's the first one so it will be slow, but it will pick up in later chapters I promise.

**Disclaimer:** I can only claim my ideas, I don't own A.T.O.M. but any original characters are mine.

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"It won't be long now, just be patient sir and you will have it," the terse reply sounded out of place from the man who said it, though the words and tone were heeded.

"It won't be long now," the other man's voice went into a high pitched version of the others, earning him a small sneer in response. "You've said it to much recently, either get it done now, or I will personally insure the government looks into all of your assets and your research, Mr. Lee."

The man who said this had all the power of the government behind him, and he expected Lee to bow to his wishes. What business owner risked it all over something like a small transaction with the government? After all, he thought keeping his face straight as he waited for a response to his words, the rumors about how Lee could not only scare off government agents but was also some mad scientist working on a Frankenstein-like creature were outrageous. The man in front of him looked like he belonged in a white coat working on kid toys then making another Frankenstein or scaring off big, gun wielding government agents, at least that's what he thought. What happened next, made him rethink his thoughts on those rumors.

"You would dare threaten me? The government is only standing because of Lee Industries creations! You will get what you want when it is finished, no earlier! If you continue this, harassment you will not see it ever!" The blonde had stood up as he talked, his glasses sliding down his nose and reveal eyes that were staring down the agent with an evil glint in them, one that didn't bode well for the man if he didn't do as instructed. The agent thought that a crack of lightning in the background would have fit the mood perfectly, but his thoughts changed to the observation that one of Lee's eyes had changed color, but put it to the lighting in the room as it was gone when the blonde had lifted his head from his chest after sitting down once more, and pushing up his glasses.

"Now, please leave, I will contact you when it is finished, no sooner," Lee said, his voice sounding almost tired.

The other nodded frantically and then turned quickly, walking as fast as politely possible out of the door, where he then ran to the elevator, his face still pale after the explosion from Lee. Lee's brown haired secretary sighed at the sight, she had actually thought that the burly man wouldn't be another of several dark suited people running in fear from her boss, mostly because the man that had run into the elevator (and plowed over the five teens in it) was taller, more muscular and had the attitude that he was all powerful in the city (and with an ego the size of Lee's bank account, it wasn't surprising). It appeared however, that the smaller blonde had won, and by a lot, she thought as she added a small tally on a pad on her desk, and quickly hid it from the five teens that had walked over, confusion evident on their faces.

"Mr. Lee has been expecting you all, please go in," she said it like it was all business, and ignored the confused looks on their faces as if she didn't know why the man had plowed into them on the elevator. They all nodded, and headed in, though not without a little hesitation, afraid of what might have happened in the office.

"Uhmm, Mr. Lee?" Axel asked as the five kids entered the large office, receiving nothing in response from the man, whose chair back was facing them.

"Yo, Mr. Lee!" Shark yelled, attempting to get the man's attention, and receiving a slap on the head for doing such a thing from Lioness.

After a few moments where no response was given the five teens hesitantly approached the desk, only to have the chair swivel around and have their boss give them a hesitant smile.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking and I," Mr. Lee drifted off, his face in thought as if he was attempting to figure out how to voice what had happened, and it was Axel who filled in the gap.

"Spaced out?" After a nod, Axel gave him a reassuring smile, putting the older man at ease, allowing Axel to continue, "Why did a guy in a dark suit run out of your office just now?"

At Axel's words, Mr. Lee looked a little sheepish, and one of his hands moved to the back of his head as he talked, looking embarrassed (or at least partially embarrassed) through out his explanation.

"He was just a disgruntled customer, mostly because his order was taking a little longer then he originally thought it would, and I may have lost my temper, just a little," after he finished, Mr. Lee went from embarrassed shock at having told the five kids that to the kind of embarrassment one gets when they have told a secret and want to dig a hole and just hide in it. Axel, King and Lioness did a good job of hiding their shock, and their amusement while Hawk and Shark were doing their best at not laughing at the obvious embarrassment of the older man and his understated explanation.

"Okay, then uhm, why did you have us come?" Axel asked, attempting to move on in the conversation, while Hawk and Shark received nasty looks from King and Lioness.

"Oh, right, yes, I have some new vehicles for you to test, mostly motorcycles, and I need to do an inspection on you vehicles now as well, mostly to see how they are operating," Mr. Lee explained, quickly getting over his embarrassment and reverting back to his normal, enthusiastic self. At the prospect of new rides, the five teens perked up, and Mr. Lee explained what they were to do with their current rides, and to go and see Garrett about the new motorcycles and such for them to test. With that, the five teens quickly said their good byes and left the office to see Garrett, leaving the older man to his thoughts.

"Leave it to them to put me in a spot like that," Mr. Lee mumbled, carefully leaning back in his chair to stretch. After hearing his back pop a little, he let himself slide into a more relaxed position in his chair and swiveled it around to look out at the city, and with the sun still out, the light reflected toward his office gave the city a highly polished look, something he enjoyed.

"Oh yes, that man in the suit was a disgruntled customer, but he's a disgruntled customer with big guns behind him," he continued to mumble as he looked out at the city, hands steepled in front of his face, a thoughtful look on his face and his glasses on the tip of his nose. "Which still doesn't explain why they want that machine in such a hurry."

When questioned about Mr. Lee's apparent outburst at a customer, Garrett merely explained that Mr. Lee had been under a lot of pressure recently and was prone to outbursts when that happened. When the explanation came that the customer was a dark suited burly man, Garrett's eyes widened, and for the first time, the team thought they saw something like concern flash in the eyes of the vehicle designer.

"What is it Garrett?" King asked, noticing the glint in the others eyes, causing said person to think for a minute before answering.

"It's nothing guys, I'm sure Mr. Lee has his own reasons for snapping at a customer," Garrett quickly stated, and the five test drivers took that as their queue to drop it.

"So, what do these new rides of ours look like?" Hawk asked, tone both pushy and curious, and the others quickly spoke up as well.

"Now just hold on guys, now one thing you have to remember, these rides are brand new, and have state of the art electronics built into them, allowing them to…" Garrett proceeded to get into an overly technical explanation of the new bikes, causing even King to give him a stumped look. After noticing their looks, Garrett quickly explained to them what he had just said, "They have GPS and hover capabilities, though the hover capabilities will only get you a few feet off the ground, they also have a few other gadgets Mr. Lee wanted to try." Garrett left out the other part of the message Mr. Lee had asked him to relate, mainly the part of why they could only go so high when the other bikes were capable of flying or hovering higher (because Lee wanted them in one piece for at least two weeks to get good test data on, but Garrett thought that they didn't need to know that).

"Oh."

"Okay."

"Awesome!"

And other such exclamations were the response given, but Garrett gave them a look that the list of features didn't end there.

"That was for the motorcycles, Mr. Lee also has a new van for you to test as well, and it has a lot of the features of the XT-9000, it just can't fly," Garrett added, and it was Shark who said what was on all of their minds.

"So it's a super Slamma!"

"Exactly."

After several other questions and several run downs on what not to do on the new vehicles, Garrett led them to where the motorcycles were, and before the drivers could start asking questions he quickly explained that the Slamma had already been taken for inspection, and the new van (which nobody had named yet) had been put at the Aquatics Center so they could easily test the new motorcycles.

"Wow, they look like mine!" Lioness remarked at seeing the new motorcycles, and she was right for the most part.

The new motorcycles were similar to Lioness's in appearance, but they were all different colors (matching everyone's color for the most part), slightly taller and bulkier, with new tires and a wider frame, over all, it was just plain bigger, which Garrett was quick to point out (along with a lot more techno jargon which the others ignored) as they put their helmets on and got settled on the machines. With a few last minute instructions the group was off, leaving Garrett to think as he headed towards the door, and soon his mind turned to a conversation he had with Lee a couple days before.

"_I told you Garrett, this project is nothing for you to worry about. Nothing is going to happen," Mr. Lee said, an almost tired tint to his voice as he and Garrett were heading towards the elevator._

"_But Mr. Lee, it's for the government, how do you know nothing will happen?" Garrett said, laced with worry._

"_Because Garrett, there are certain precautions that I have taken to prevent anybody but me from getting to it," Lee's response was said as if it was an old argument being rehashed, and in recent times it had been._

"_Right, like there were measures taken to prevent someone from entering this building late at night, or from taking over that train, or – ", Garret was cut off by a look that did not bode well for him._

"_Enough, I appreciate your concern Garrett but I'll be," Lee stopped, both walking and talking to lean against a wall, causing Garrett to look at him with concern, and picking up the older mans pale appearance, he was ready to say something when Lee began talking again, "I'll be fine, don't worry. This will all turn out alright," Lee muttered as much to himself as to Garrett, causing Garrett to worry more._

"_And Garrett, I need you to promise not to tell the others this, they don't need to know about any of it," Lee said with as much authority as Garrett had ever heard before, and he quickly promised him that, though as much to stay on the man's good side as anything else, and soon after he had started moving again._

"_Oh and Garrett, stop this mother henning, it doesn't suite you," With a small laugh the older man had gotten onto the elevator with Garrett soon behind him, and while his face had a smile on it, his mind was a flurry of activity._

With a sigh he shook his head, regretting his promise to the older man, but not wanting to break his trust. He couldn't help but worry, especially sense he had noticed him getting paler, and his temper didn't seem as under control. With a sigh he told himself he would find a way to live with it until the machine was out of the company's hands, but he could always call _him _if he got overly concerned for Mr. Lee's health. _Which seems like it may be rather soon_, he thought to himself as he got into the elevator and pressed the button, and with a soft _swoosh_ the doors closed, and he left for another day of worry and work.

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Please review people, I won't update if there aren't any reviews.


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